Widmer-Schlumpf to Meet DoJs Eric Holder Today on Swiss Banks
Switzerlands Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf is meeting U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in the U.S. today to discuss Swiss banks.
The meeting was supposed to take place in April during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings and was rescheduled, Swiss Finance Ministry spokesman Roland Meier said by phone today.
The two countries signed an accord last year over how to punish Swiss financial institutions that used secret accounts to help American clients hide assets from U.S. tax authorities.
Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) is at risk of being criminally charged by U.S. and state prosecutors, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News on April 29, signaling that authorities are taking a tougher approach as they seek to resolve probes of major banks. Credit Suisse is the largest of 14 Swiss banks under U.S. criminal investigation amid a crackdown on offshore tax evasion.
Todays talks are about Swiss banks and about the banking program, Meier said, declining to provide details.
Credit Suisse said in its quarterly report today that the DoJ investigation remains outstanding.
Widmer-Schlumpfs meeting with Holder was reported earlier today by Swiss radio RSI.
To contact the reporter on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in Zurich at zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net Jan Schwalbe, Paul Verschuur
Read the rest here:
Widmer-Schlumpf to Meet DoJs Eric Holder Today on Swiss Banks